Rampur heads for elections in absence of 'charismatic' Azam Khan
Azam Khan, a Samajwadi Party leader who has been removed from the fray because of his imprisonment. After almost five decades, Lok Sabha elections are going to be held in the complete absence of Rampur's 'Khan,' who held the sway over its voters all these years.
Famous for its cultural and historical heritage, Rampur was the political stronghold of the Nawabs in the early decades after Independence. After that, the political rise of Azam Khan in the 80s eclipsed all his rivals ever since.
Khan, who had a stronghold on the politics of Rampur from 1978 to 2022, is currently serving seven years of imprisonment in the case of a fake birth certificate of his son Abdullah Azam.
Sardar Manmohan Singh, who runs a medicine business in Rampur Sadar area, said, «This time the enthusiasm of election is missing in Rampur. The biggest reason for this is that a charismatic leader like Azam Khan is in jail. We remember Khan Saheb's electrifying speeches.»
SP has fielded Imam Mohibullah Nadvi, a cleric of a mosque located on Parliament Street in Delhi, as its candidate.
An SP leader supporting Khan said the party decision made little sense to him and he would have preferred the party fielded someone close to Khan.
«I do not understand why party president Akhilesh Yadav chose Mohibullah Nadvi as the candidate. When Akhilesh ji met Khan Saheb in jail last month, I thought that a representative of Khan Saheb would be given the ticket from Rampur. I could not understand what happened after that,» the person said.
Khan's absence
